Drill rod holding and break-out device

Abstract

A vehicle mounted drill rod holding and break-out device has a clamp jaw support reciprocatingly mounted in a housing. The housing is pivotally mounted on the vehicle to permit the free end of the housing, hence the clamp jaw support, to swing toward and away from the vehicle. A selectively extensible and retractable arm is pivotally mounted at one end on the outside of the housing. At its free end, the arm carries a pipe wrench, pivotally mounted on the arm in such a way that when the jaws of the pipe wrench engage a drill rod at the extended position of the arm and the arm is retracted, the drill rod is rotated to break a joint between the clamp and the wrench. The height of the housing is made adjustable to accommodate travel and working conditions.

1. In a vehicle mounted rod holding and break-out device the improvement comprising a clamp support, a pair of oppositely disposed clamp jaws mounted on said support, means mounted on said support for moving at least one of said clamp jaws toward and away from the other, a housing for mounting and supporting one end of said clamp support for sliding in and out with respect to said housing, means mounted in said housing and connected to said support for moving said support in in and out directions, and means mounted on said vehicle for pivotally supporting said housing for swinging said housing and support toward and away from 
     
     
       2. The improvement of claim 1 including a selectively extensible and retractable arm, pivotally mounted at one end on the outside of said housing, a pipe wrench housing pivotally mounted on a free end of said arm, a jaw adjustably mounted in said pipe wrench housing, and means for 
     
     
       3. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the means for moving at least one of the oppositely disposed clamp jaws and for moving said clamp support are 
     
     
       4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the housing includes a tube, rectangular in transverse cross-section, the end of the clamp support mounted in said housing is a complementarily shaped tube telescopically mounted in said housing tube and the means for moving the clamp support is a hydraulic cylinder mounted to said housing at one end and extending 
     
     
       5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the housing includes a dog-leg bracket with a sleeve, and the mounting means includes a post journaled in said sleeve and fixedly mounted on said vehicle, said post being substantially longer than said sleeve, whereby said sleeve, hence said housing, can be moved up and down on said post to vary the height of the housing from the ground, and means for holding said sleeve in a desired position while permitting swinging movement of said sleeve around said 
     
     
       6. The improvement of claim 2 wherein the said arm comprises a hydraulic 
     
     
       7. In a vehicle mounted rod holding and break-out device the improvement comprising a clamp jaw support, a pair of oppositely disposed clamp jaws mounted on said support, means mounted on said support for moving at least one of said clamp jaws toward and away from the other, an arm carried by said support and pivotally mounted at one end for swinging movement with respect to said clamp jaw support, rod breaking means mounted on a free end of said arm, means for extending and retracting said arm, means mounted on said vehicle for mounting said support for pivotal and axial movement thereon, to permit swinging said support toward and away from said vehicle and for heightwise movement on said mounting means, and means for selectively maintaining said support at any one of a plurality of 
     
     
       8. The improvement of claim 7 wherein both of said clamp jaws are mounted for movement toward and away from one another, and the means for moving said clamp jaws are hydraulic cylinders.